The Roosters affiliate clubs experienced differing results over the weekend.
Minor Premiers - the North Sydney Bears - were defeated at home by the Penrith Panthers in the NSW Cup, while the Glebe Dirty Reds claimed victory in their semi-final against Ryde Eastwood in the Ron Massey Cup.
Glebe Dirty Reds
The Glebe Dirty Reds produced a stunning performance to overcome the Ryde Eastwood Hawks 28-10 in the semi-final of the Ron Massey Cup on Saturday afternoon, running in five tries to secure a crucial win at St Mary’s Leagues Stadium.
A blistering start from the Dirty Reds saw them leading their opponents by 10 points early in the match, with tries to Johno Tufuga and Callum Ellis stamping their side’s authority on the contest.
Glebe headed into the sheds at half time with a slim four-point lead after Ryde Eastwood had responded to their early setbacks with a converted try, however the 10-point margin was restored when Tufuga crossed after the break for his second of the match.
The Dirty Reds proved too strong for the Hawks late in the contest, running in a further two tries to put the game to bed, and setting up a preliminary final showdown with minor premiers St Mary’s next weekend.
North Sydney Bears
In the NSW Cup, the North Sydney Bears were narrowly defeated at home by the Penrith Panthers 26-18 after going scoreless in a second half that saw the visitors run in three unanswered tries.
The Bears opened the scoring through fullback Ben Stevanovic in the 14th minute of the contest and tries to Reuben Porter and Alfred Smalley late in the half gave the hosts a solid 10-point advantage at the break.
After a gruelling start to the second period, in which both sides were kept scoreless for nearly 20 minutes, Panther Kurt Falls crossed in the 58th minutes to cut the margin to just four points in favour of the Bears.
Late tries to Jesse McLean and Eddie Blacker in the final 10 minutes of play sealed the victory for the Panthers, condemning the Bears to their seventh defeat of the 2023 season.
North Sydney will look to find some form heading into an important finals series when they round off the regular season against the fourth placed Canberra Raiders next Sunday afternoon at North Sydney Oval.
